1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having storage areas to store data of document or image, etc. by groups or users therein, a data delivery method to deliver the data to storage areas of individual users respectively, and a data delivery program stored in a computer readable recording medium in order to make a computer of the image processing apparatus execute data delivery processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
In recent years, some of the image processing apparatuses typified by MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) that are digital multifunctional machine, have personal storage areas provided for individual users therein, and data can be exchanged between the personal storage areas.
Meanwhile, a mailing list is a well known method to deliver data to a plurality of users by email. By using a mailing list, one same message is delivered to a plurality of users at one time. However, a mailing list is not meant to be used in a case where a sender user would like to deliver different data to a plurality of users respectively, at one time. In this case, he/she should bother to create different messages and transmit the messages to a plurality of users one by one.
There is the same problem mentioned above, in data delivery performed between personal storage areas in the image processing apparatus. If a sender user would like to deliver different data to a plurality of personal storage areas (to a plurality of users), he/she should bother to create different data and transmit the data to personal storage areas manually one by one, which requires many operations and time.
According to an art disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-177277, if information such as an image or a document is stored in a recording medium, particular information among those stored therein is automatically deleted.
With the art disclosed in the publication above, although memory capacity of a recording medium is saved by erasing particular information among those stored therein, the problem of many operations to transmit different data to a plurality of personal storage areas in an image processing apparatus one by one, is not completely resolved.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.